8/01/2007

Newfoundland, CanadaThis satellite image released by NOAA taken on Tuesday at 7:15 a.m. ET shows tropical storm Chantal, top right, off the coast of Massachusetts. (NOAA/Associated Press)

Tropical storm Chantal, the third named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, formed Tuesday between Bermuda and Massachusetts and is moving northeast to Eastern Canada, where it threatens to bring heavy rain.

The storm was centred about 378 kilometres southeast of Halifax around 5 p.m. ET and had maximum sustained speed of 80 km/h, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

The heaviest rains will hit the east coast of Newfoundland where a rainfall warning has been issued by Environment Canada for the Burin and Avalon peninsulas.